The "gay bomb" (informally known) refers to a non-lethal psychochemical weapon concept that was speculated upon by a research laboratory within the United States Air Force. This unconventional idea involved the dispersion of sex pheromones over enemy forces, with the intent of generating mutual sexual attraction among them causing mass confusion and panic within their platoons.

Dating back to 1994, the Wright Laboratory in Ohio, a precursor to the modern United States Air Force Research Laboratory, drafted a three-page proposal detailing several potential nonlethal chemical weapons. This document, eventually acquired by the Sunshine Project via a Freedom of Information Act request, explores the notion of the "gay bomb" among other concepts.

Background

No well-controlled scientific studies have ever been published suggesting the possibility of pheromones causing rapid behavioral changes in humans.[1]

Some body spray advertisers claim that their products contain human sexual pheromones which act as an aphrodisiac. In the 1970s, "copulins" were patented as products which release human pheromones, based on research on rhesus monkeys.[1] Subsequently, androstenone, axillary sweat, and "vomodors" have been claimed to act as human pheromones.[2]

Despite these claims, no pheromonal substance has ever been demonstrated to directly influence human behavior in a peer reviewed study.[1][2][3]

Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that when homosexual and heterosexual males are presented with two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal their brains tend to respond differently, and that the homosexual men tend to respond in the same way as heterosexual women, though it could not be determined whether this was cause or effect.[4] The study was expanded to include homosexual women; the results were consistent with previous findings meaning that homosexual women were not as responsive to male identified odors, while their response to female cues was similar to that of heterosexual males.[5] According to the researchers, this research suggests a possible role for human pheromones in the biological basis of sexual orientation.[6]

Leaked documents

In both of the documents, the possibility was canvassed that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behavior". The documents described the aphrodisiac weapon as "distasteful but completely non-lethal".[7][8]

Body odors

Body odor remote-engineering, involving compounds found in halitosis and hyperhidrosis, was another possibility discussed. Again, these effects would be produced by a non-lethal chemical weapon—possibly one that would affect the hormonal and digestive systems. It appears that a 'heavy sweating bomb', 'flatulence bomb' and 'halitosis bomb' were also considered by a committee at the time. The plan was to make an enemy so smelly they could be quite literally sniffed out of hiding by their opponents.

Ig Nobel Prize awards

Wright Laboratory won the satiric 2007 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "instigating research & development on a chemical weapon—the so-called 'gay bomb'—that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other."[9]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Wyatt, Tristram D. (2003). Pheromones and Animal Behaviour: Communication by Smell and Taste. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-48526-6. p. 298 Quoting Preti & Weski (1999) "No peer reviewed data supporting the presences of ... human ... pheromones that cause rapid behavioral changes, such as attraction and/or copulation have been documented."
  2. 1 2 Hays, Warren S. T.; Human (2003). "Human pheromones: have they been demonstrated?". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 54 (2): 89–97. doi:10.1007/s00265-003-0613-4. S2CID 37400635.
  3. ↑ Bear, Mark F.; Barry W. Connors; Michael A. Paradiso (2006). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-0-7817-6003-4. neuroscience exploring the brain. p. 264 ... there has not yet been any hard evidence for human pheromones that might [change] sexual attraction (for members of either sex) [naturally]
  4. ↑ Savic I; Berglund H; Lindström P (May 2005). "Brain response to putative pheromones in homosexual men". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102 (20): 7356–7361. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.7356S. doi:10.1073/pnas.0407998102. PMC 1129091. PMID 15883379.
  5. ↑ Berglund H; Lindström P; Savic I (May 2006). "Brain response to putative pheromones in lesbian women". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103 (21): 8269–74. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.8269B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600331103. PMC 1570103. PMID 16705035.
  6. ↑ Wade, N. "Gay Men are found to have Different Scent of Attraction." NY Times, 9 May 2005
  7. ↑ "Houston Voice Blog". 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2015. Alt URL
  8. ↑ Glaister, Dan (13 June 2007). "Air force looked at spray to turn enemy gay". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize". Improbable Research. 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2007.

References

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